advancements on the use of credit cards as well as a variety to choose from. The trend has
allowed consumers to have more than one credit card and spend on emergency situations, for
example, when one is low on cash compared to the financial commitments that one has.
Credit cards also come with a number of incentives including purchase protection, anti-
fraud security, building one’s creditworthiness, and earning credit card benefits from its use.
Harzog (2015) explains that more credit card issuers offer anti-fraud security and increased
protections on their client’s credit cards so that when one becomes a victim of fraud, the bank
covers a substantive liability. Barrett (2009) Federal law protects credit card spenders as it allows
to dispute payments, and the credit card issuers would be required to withhold the payments from
the seller until the issue is resolved. According to Rent.com (2015), a contributor at Forbes, a
credit card user earns credit card scores based on the ability to repay the amounts, which in the
long run builds one’s creditworthiness in mortgage and normal loans. Lastly, credit card usage
allows one to earn benefits such as a percentage of cash back on every purchase and free
purchases (Lee, 2014; Harzog, 2015).
However, some may argue that credit cards make one overspend, get in huge debt traps,
incur high-interest rates on payments, or pay huge annual fees, penalties, and hidden costs
(Carrns, 2014). However, there is a way out of all these demerits associated with using a credit
card, as one could always seek professional advice from a credit officer, and learn about his or
her spending limits (Barrett, 2009). Most credit cards are tailored to suit personal needs, and
credit experts could establish these needs based on one’s budget when acquiring the first credit
card (Rent.com, 2015; Lee, 2014). Therefore, most of the demerits of credit cards are containable
with sufficient credit advice and responsible spending.
